


Soul of Kyber

by charlottefrey



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Android, Armitage is badass and murders ppl, Bounty Hunter, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Droid Armitage Hux, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Humanoid, M/M, Nightmares, Non-Graphic Violence, Podracing, They both kind of die but get better, Wookies, developing feelings (entierly by accident), dont worry this will end happy, droid au, drunken idiot (singular), idk man this is literally me taking Hux and running away with him, some sort of Pod Racing Event but with guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28239789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlottefrey/pseuds/charlottefrey
Summary: Armitage Hux died at age nine in the Academy. Through the Force however, Snoke managed to bind both Armitage’s spirit and intellect to a cyber cristal that resides in a humanoid droid. Managing to escape after the First Oder has fallen Armitage mends his broken body and has to flee halfway across the galaxy to keep the fact that he survived a secret. But with bounties set on his head and someone's uncanny ability to find him, Armitage soon finds himself as the co-driver of a podracer.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Kylux Big Bang 2020





	1. Birth of A Droid

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!  
> This is it! My contribution to this years KBB with the lovely Francis as my partner. Big thanks to them for being so patient with me. This year was crazy both in terms of uni work as well as personal stress, so being able to work at my own pace was really nice.  
> Since I always wanted to write a Droid AU fic and I had a lot of fun writing this.There will be some made up and some canon characters in here, so I hope you won't find that too confusing. Time moves (mostly) linear and there will be only slightly POV changes (Armitage (main), Malarus, Rey and Finn).  
> I'm very sorry btw that I haven't updated any of my other fics, but since there have been some very unvorseen and uncomfortable things happening in my life I found that I had neither the time nor the creativity to write a lot. Not gonna promise anything, but I will try to post some more stuff soon-ish. There's some WIPs I could polish up a little. But since engagement on my stories is way (and i do mean way) down, I am thinking abt moving to other (new and old) fandoms.

[Rebloggable](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/darthtenrec/638677009841750016)

_ALERT! Critical damage to hull_ _  
_ _ALERT! Critical damage to Processor One_ _  
_ _ALERT! Critical damage to ventral battery_ _  
_ _ALERT! Critical loss of cooling fluid_

Armitage’s vision was blurry as he was dragged towards a trash compactor. The shrill warnings made his processors stutter and whirr. He knew he had to do something or else he would end up in the bowels of the command ship. 

Panic washed over his mind and he lashed out. 

≠

_“Commander Hux,” Malarus stood in the corridor outside the gym._

_Having pulled the Academy’s highest ranking officer from an assessment of his students usually would’ve resulted in a reprimand. But Malarus was able to get away with almost anything._

_“Yes General?” Commander Hux replied, voice sharp and icy cold._

_“I have come to inform you of an accident with the Children placed under my care,” Malarus inhaled deeply. “Your son Armitage tried to break up a fight and was killed in the process.”_

_She looked at the Commander. She knew there was no love between him and his son. Especially since the old imperial elite descended upon the Academy along with Allegiant General Pryde, Armitage’s wellbeing had spiralled out of control._

_Rae Sloane had attempted to protect Armitage and placed him with Commander Hux’ Children under Malarus’ care. But now she had failed Armitage and Rae._

_“Very well,” Commander Hux replied. “I believe that I will figure out a way to remedy that.”_

_“Come again?” Malarus asked, blinking in surprise._

_“Supreme Leader Snoke will require an explanation for my son’s death. And he will not be too happy about it.”_

_“You imply that punishment is still possible.”_

_“I do not believe that Snoke would dare to anger the Brass,” Commander Hux replied glancing at her dismissively. “He was, for some reason, fond of the boy. Claimed he would achieve greatness in the future.”_

_Malarus suppressed a shiver and inhaled deeply._

_“Shall I inform him?”_

_“No, that task falls on me. Please see that there are no more deaths with my Children.”_

_With that, Commander Hux brushed past Malarus, leaving her alone in the corridor. A violent sob broke from her lips, all composure falling away as she reached for the wall, the only constant around her._

_How a father could be decidedly unbothered by his son’s death was beyond her._

≠

The cooling fluid was sticky on Armitage’s fingers as he pried the doors to his ship open. Behind him, the remains of his TIE fighter burned after he had shot up the power core with his blaster. He felt dizzy and his movements were sluggish. Knowing that once he was behind those doors he would be able to fix his broken body assured him of his survival. 

He had mended the worst of the damage before he had jumped into hyperspace. However, alerts were still prominent in his feed. 

“Finally,” he muttered as the door slipped open and he climbed into his XY light freighter. 

The interior was just the same as he had last left it. Not that Armitage had expected that anything would be out of place, but just seeing his personal datapad on the console beside the door reminded him of the last time he had been here.

A greeting was displayed on the screen and he was informed that the ship’s security systems were switched off. He stumbled past it and sat down on his chair by the computer console.

Apart from him, there’d been only one other person who knew of this ship and the secrets it held. Phasma had never spilled his secret, the same way Armitage had never disclosed hers. And now Phasma was dead, consumed by the flames of the destroyed _Supremacy_. 

For a moment, Armitage had to pause. 

He missed Phasma, not only for the protection she had offered but also for her companionship, as reluctant as it might’ve been in the beginning. He was close to collapsing, but he just managed to activate the repair droid nearby. 

Then, to save energy and cooling fluid, he slowly shut down most of his functions.

Armitage observed the alerts on his feed vanish one by one as the mechanic droid worked on him. It was deeply unsettling how one blaster bolt could’ve very well cost Armitage his life. 

If this existence could be considered living to begin with. 

He had felt the moment Palpatine had died. It was the same as with Snoke- an unsettling feeling of _losing_. What exactly he had lost was unclear to him. But he knew that the glimmer was gone and that he would have to find another way to hide the joints of his jaw. A beard or a mask over the lower half of his face would work just fine. 

That was a problem he’d have to find a solution to quickly. 

Signaling with a beep that he was done, the droid stepped back. Armitage sat up and checked the function of his body. Everything seemed to work just fine. Even his leg was back to normal. Finn had put a lot more damage than anticipated to one of Armitage’s secondary processors. 

The thought of Finn made him angry. 

Since the whole stunt with him being the alleged spy had backfired horrendously, Armitage really wondered what happened to the rest of his own crew. Not the one of the ship he had been assigned to - he was more concerned with his beloved Finalizer crew. 

Knowing fully well of the trials after the fall of the Empire, Armitage could only believe in the intelligence of his crew and that they used the means he had provided to elude capture and interrogation. 

Because if they didn’t he’d have a whole lot more issued on his hands than strictly necessary. 

As he started up the main processor of the ship and with it the engine, Armitage went through the list of people who knew about him. About his secret. Most on the list were already dead long ago. The only two people left were Malarus and Mitaka. 

Mitaka didn’t actually have the security clearance to know about such classified intelligence, but he had found out about it by accident. 

The only thing that left Armitage hanging in limbo was the fact that he didn’t know if Ren knew about his secret. He had never dropped any kind of hint and hadn’t particularly cared if Ren knew or didn’t. Maybe Snoke had told him. Maybe Palpatine informed Ren. 

As of now, he wasn’t even sure if Ren was still alive. 

Regardless of that, Armitage had to get a move on. Unlike the information about him, this planet and this ship were very much in the FO archives if one only wanted to search for the right thing. 

  
  


≠

_Malarus looked around the room. She felt out of place with Supreme Leader Snoke just to her right and the body of Armitage in front of her._

_“Are we ready?” Snoke asked in his sharp voice._

_“Yes,” one of the scientists said._

_She recognized him from somewhere, but that information was too blurry, too far back to make any difference now. It didn’t matter anyway._

_Reaching into a small crate held by one of his guards, Snoke smiled devilishly. His twisted face unsettled Malarus more than anything else ever had._

_Over by the humanoid droid shaped like Armitage’s body, Brendol supervised the whole situation. He looked utterly indifferent, maybe slightly annoyed that he had been called from his duties than anything else._

_Malarus’ eye caught movement by her side and she watched Snoke walk towards the droid body. In his hand, a reddish crystal gleamed and Malarus drew in a sharp breath. She had heard of the attempts to mate the famed cyber crystals with modern weaponry._

_Never in her life had she imagined that she would ever get to see one of them._

_While Snoke worked on fitting the crystal into the droid, Malarus let her eyes wander over Armitage's body. She had been the one to carry his little, lifeless corpse out of the safeguarded wing of the Academy where Brendol kept the Children._

_He had been so small, so light in her arms._

_Malarus had never had strong feelings for anyone, but in that moment she had been overcome with an almost blinding amount of grief and sorrow for this child. Armitage hadn’t been a happy or even a wanted child. He was someone the whole academy looked down on, despite his abilities, solely because of his heritage._

_“Watch closely now, you won’t ever see another thing like it,” Snoke whispered and stepped into the space between Armitage’s body and the droid._

_With a flick of Snoke’s hands, both rose into the air. Malarus felt her heartbeat hard against her ribcage as she watched a flickering of orange and gold rise from Armitage’s body and waft over to the droid shell. The scientist clutched his datapad and Malarus heard him whisper in a strange tongue as they both watched, utterly transfixed by what was conspiring in front of them._

_Brendol hadn’t moved at all. He showed no reaction to the scene in front of him._

_Snoke moved to the side and slowly lowered himself into the seat provided there for him. Malarus felt a shiver run down her back as she watched the two figures against the viewports. She saw the stars glittering in the distance and was reminded of Armitage excitedly telling her that one day he would travel the galaxy._

_Both Snoke and Brendol observed the scene without outwardly showing any kind of emotion._

[Rebloggable](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/darthtenrec/638677009841750016)

≠

Rey stood by the windows. It was night on this planet and there’s some strange smell in the air. Rey assumes it was simply some of the strange fruits that grew here. Outside, the only source of light was the double moons shining over the forest outside. The entire planet was a strange mix of jungle and city. 

Rey wasn’t sure she liked it here.

But she hadn’t been sure of things for a while. Ever since that fight in the throne room. She swallowed as she remembered. 

≠

_It was terrifying to look at Palpatine- he made her feel sick whenever he spoke. Kylo was standing a few feet away from them, creating an oddly shaped triangle. No one spoke. No one moved._

_“The Skywalker Heir and the Junkyard Girl,” Palpatine’s voice grated in Rey’s ears._

_He said some more, but she couldn’t hear him. A buzz so loud it almost blinded her blocked out all sounds, all feelings. She could feel her body shake as she fell to her knees._

_Then the buzz was gone._

_Rey could breathe again, but now Kylo stood beside Palpatine and as he lifted his head, she saw the red glow of his eyes. He smirked at her and ignited his sabre._

_“It’s only fitting this ending, don’t you think?” Kylo ground out. “My family has always served the Dark Side and rid the Galaxy of creatures like you. And once I’m done with you, I will go after your friends.”_

_A vision, so vivid and clear, cut through her like a knife. Poe’s X-Wing crashing into the side of a Star Destroyer, Finn getting decapitated by stormtrooper executioners, Rose trying to protect some children…_

_Rey screamed and scrambled to her feet._

_“GET! OUT!” She howled. “How dare you!”_

_But Kylo didn’t reply, instead advancing as he swung his sabre. Rey fingered her own sabres, but then reconsidered. She would not raise his uncle’s or his mother’s sabre against Kylo, not again._

_The first blow swung at her face, but she ducked under it. A blast sent her back against a fallen statue and pressed her against the rough stone. She struggled to breathe until it finally eased off. Kylo stood in front of her, sabre hovering next to her face._

_“Has the fight left you?” Kylo asked, jeering as he licked his lips._

_Rey coughed as a hard grip formed around her throat. She was lifted up, towards Kylo by the Force. Her vision was getting fuzzy and she felt her feet leave the ground. Panic boiled over in her stomach._

_And she lashed out._

_Her fingernails tore across Kylo’s already marred face in a comical recreation of the last injury she had inflicted on him. Kylo yelled in pain, dropping her and his sabre. Without waiting to catch her breath she picked it up._

_Kicking Kylo in the back of his knees brought him down and he was still clutching his face when she grabbed him by the hair and twisted his head back. His sabre spat and crackled in her hand. Gripping it tighter she inhaled deeply._

_She saw it in his eyes._

_The terror of knowing what came next. The regret of having taunted her, of making all the wrong decisions. The knowledge that there never will be a Ben Solo again. The lie that he had been feeding her just to get her here._

_Ice cold fury took over her body and mind._

_It’s different from the hot anger she had felt on the abandoned Death Star from her Dark Side. That had felt like Kylo’s Force touch on Starkiller, scorching her mind. Like molten durasteel, it hard burned through her rational mind and raided her very soul._

_This fury however was hers and hers alone. It was the fury of the righteous, of the oppressed. Shivering with the strength of her emotions, Rey felt the hairs on her whole body rise, and waves of strength run through her veins._

_“Good bye,” she said and brought the sabre down._

_After dropping Kylo Ren’s head, Rey looked over to where Palpatine still waited by his throne. She can feel his fear, taste it through the Force. And she reached out._

_“Your time had come a long while ago,” she whispered, her voice echoing in the empty arena._

_Her hand closed swiftly, effectively crushing Palpatine’s body._

≠

The beard on his face was odd. 

Even though he had been wearing it previously on undercover missions, it was still strange to have it on the whole time. Armitage noticed that his mouth’s movements were restricted a little and knew that he would have to make adjustments to his disguise sooner rather than later. 

The ship’s fuel cells still had to heat up, which would take at least two if not three standard days. 

Armitage left the ship a little disgruntled with the old tech, searching for ways to pass the time. His almost endless supply of power and energy gave him the chance to spend the entire time outside and wander the wastelands of Korriban. 

He had always been fascinated by the Sith and their traditions, how their empire rose and was crushed ruthlessly. The Valley of the Dark Lords had a particularly strong siren call for him. 

As he wandered amongst the ruins he pondered how their fall eerily mimicked both the fall of the Empire as well as the First Order’s. Grand visions, destroyed and cast aside until they were forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!


	2. A Bounty for Nerd Dung

The ship had no business shaking this much at re-entry. 

Armitage was sure that he heard some fuel lines hissing in the depth of the cable tree, but he couldn't bring himself to care. If the ship broke down he’d simply get himself a new one. It wasn’t as if he were above murder. 

He hated being this close to the Inner Rim, but it was the only way of getting some money flowing. 

While he did have some reserves, he was wary of touching them since he had no idea how long he would have until his inevitable capture. Deep down he knew that it would be only so long until someone recognized him. But up until then, he had some checks to settle. 

At some point on the journey, he had discarded the beard and chosen a tight nerf leather mask to cover the lower half of his face, which would make hiding in the shadows of the galaxy even easier. 

He had changed his clothes too, shedding his tattered uniform and swapped it for a pair of dark green pants, rough boots, and a linen wrap shirt. When he looked in the mirror he found that he looked a great deal like Poe Dameron with his new outfit. Slightly disgruntled with the realisation, he had thrown on a long black coat similar to his own old coat from Starkiller. 

Glancing out the viewport, Armitage saw the town rapidly approaching. The comm tower informed him of his designated landing platform and Armitage let the ship’s autopilot do the flying. In a way, it was only an extension of his own conscience, after all. 

Softly touching down, Armitage made his way to the ramp and checked on the way there that his weapons were in their place and ready in case he needed them. While he waited for the last few landing protocols to run through the ship’s ancient computer, he flipped his right wrist backwards and let his vibro knife pop out and back in again. 

Making his way down the ramp and past the gate fencing his landing platform from the public, he wondered how much Paqualis III had changed since the last time he had been here. As far as he knew it was still under warlord control, even though there had been tentative attempts to bring it into the First Order. 

Which had ended up with a few of his officers going  _ missing _ and never turning up again. 

Armitage had learned his lesson with warlords and left Paqualis III and other planets like it alone after that. He didn’t need that kind of trouble, and not even Kylo had been stupid enough to seek them out. 

Passing through the crowd, almost obscenely aware of everyone around him brushing against his body, Armitage had a hard time to focus since he got so many alerts on his feed. It was a bit much for his processors to handle and for a brief moment, Armitage was unsure if this was such a good idea after all. But then he reached for his slugthrower and a path cleared. 

With a grin behind his mask, he made his way through the now parting crowd, the scattergun in his hand. 

House Benelex was in the same place it had been the last time Armitage had visited. The unsuspecting door was barely visible behind two large signs advertising some new droid brothel and as he rounded it, he picked up several heat signatures inside the building. With a little bit of luck, Saras was still there. 

The Rodian was a terrifying bounty hunter, or at least she had been when Armitage was younger. He doubted that she had been killed. 

Knocking at the door he noticed that a new security system had been installed. But instead of straight-up busting through it, he waited for someone to answer the door. When the durasteel swished aside, he was met with a tall Twi’lek. Her dark blue skin was almost black in the low light. 

“What do you want?” she asked calmly, her eyes travelling to the scatter gun in his hand. 

“Is Krenin here?” 

“Saras? I’m not sure, but you can come in and I’ll see where she is,” the Twi’lek stepped aside. “What’s the deal?” 

“Tell her that her boy returned to get a job,” Armitage replied. 

Stepping over the threshold, Armitage tucked the slug slinger away. The Twi’lek arched her eyebrow, but she must’ve heard enough cryptic messages in her time, because she vanished through another door. 

Armitage was left in the dark, windowless room. 

He heard bits and pieces from the conversation a few rooms over and the noise from the street. It was almost calming to know that no one could sneak up on him unless they had no heat signature and move absolutely silently.

The door swung open and Saras stood right in front of Armitage

“Weren’t you dead?”

“Slander!” Armitage replied. “I would never die without informing you first.” 

Saras’ lips turned into something like a smile. She had aged since the last time Armitage saw her when the House Benelex had saved Maratelle, Brendol, and him out of a precarious situation.

“Good to know,” Saras said. “Get in and I’ll see what I can do for you.” 

Following the Rodian into the next room, Armitage became acutely aware of the sensors scanning every available surface, keeping an all encompassing eye on the room. And the hidden auto-focusing gun mounted over the only door leading out. 

“Much has changed since the last time you were here,” Saras sat down on a desk and pointed at a chair across from her. “We have been a little under the weather because of a couple of turf wars with another bounty hunter guild and of course the collapse of the First Order, you get the picture.” 

“Sorry about the last thing, Kylo Ren fucked that up with a little help of Pryde and Palpatine.” 

“So the old Emperor did return?” Saras swung her leg over the other and tilted her head at Armitage.

“Seems like it. Never had the immense pleasure of meeting him however,” Armitage ground out with a sarcastic eye roll and she chuckled. 

“Have you heard from anyone else?” Saras asked. 

“No, but they all believe me to be dead. After all, Pryde shot me in front of a whole bridge crew,” Armitage said, shrugging. “And I believe if anyone was clever enough not to get killed during the battle, they are definitely smart enough to keep quiet and not attempt to contact anyone they don’t trust.” 

“So you trust me.” 

“I need money Saras. That’s it.” 

“You wound me,” she said, but Armitage knew that she didn’t mean it. “But I have something that might catch your interest.” 

She slid a tracer over. 

≠

Malarus stood up when the guards entered her cell. She had expected them after all, the sounds of feet loud in the otherwise deathly silent cell tract of the prison ship. However it was very much unexpected that the guards were made of flesh and bones.

“Come with us,” one of them said.

Without resisting, Malarus rose and followed them through the empty corridors until she was ushered into a chamber with three chairs. Two were already occupied by Finn and Leia Organa. 

“Have a seat,” Leia said and waved her hand at the remaining chair. 

Malarus sat down and instantly two shackles closed around her wrists, keeping her in place. 

“You are Commander Jasper Malarus?” 

“Yes.” 

“You served the First Order from 21 ABY until 35 ABY?” 

“That is correct.” 

“You served under both Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, General Brendol Hux and Allegiant General Enric Pryde?” 

“Also correct.” 

“You will answer everyone of our questions truthfully and honestly. Trust me, I will know if you’re lying to me. And if you comply we might be a little bit more lenient with your sentencing.” 

“Understood.” 

“Good. Now that we established that, I have a few questions relating to both Allegiant General Pryde as well as General Armitage Hux,” Leia folded her hands in her lab. 

“Why Armitage?” 

“Because there are records in the Academy files that confuse us a little bit,” Leia smiled. “You served as an overseer over General Brendol Hux’ Commander’s Cadets?” 

“Yes. We also called them the Children.” 

Malarus let her eyes wander from Leia to Finn. She didn’t know why he was here, but didn’t dare pose the question since he didn’t take his eyes off her. 

“And these Children, who were part of this organisation?” 

“Rav Horan, Orman Le Hirvre, Any Razar and others. At some point Phasma and Cardinal, but that was already when the organisation fizzled out. And of course, his son Armitage.” 

“All these cadets had something in common hadn’t they?” 

“Yes. They were all gifted in some way. Brendol was obsessed with the idea of creating super soldiers who would have both the Force as well as top notch fighting skills. We never found any Force sensitive children, but most of the cadets were excellent fighters, even at a young age.” 

“Have there ever been any… Accidents involving the children?” 

Malarus stiffened. The records had been purged carefully; even the notes sent to Snoke had been kept under wraps. The security clearance was above them, and only Snoke himself knew how to open them. 

“There have been multiple injuries, yes.” 

“Ones relating to Armitage Hux?” 

Her heart beat so hard in her chest she felt like she was about to faint. Focusing on the floor, she breathed out one word. 

“Yes.” 

“In these records, it’s stated clearly that Armitage Hux died breaking up a fight between Phasma and a much older Rav Horan. Yet, that record was purged and from then on Armitage Hux never reported to a medical examination ever again. There are scheduled appointments, but never a record of the actual examination. Why?” 

Malarus raised her red eyes from the tips of her boots to Leia’s face. 

“Armitage Hux died. He… He was killed in the way you described. However, Supreme Leader Snoke had predicted great things for Armitage, so he…” Malarus sucked in a deep breath. “He stored Armitage’s soul in a large kyber crystal and a body was built for him to continue life as usual.” 

“For how long did you maintain the illusion that General Armitage Hux was still human?” 

“He died around the age of seven? He would be around thirty-five now.” 

“Were you present for any of the procedures?” 

“I was.” 

“Why? Your security clearance was very low during that time.” 

“I was just out of the Academy when it happened. I… I was responsible for the Children and was fond of Armitage. He didn’t deserve half of the punishment he got and all the punishment he got was exaggerated. I was also present during his death and therefore responsible for his safety.” 

“You know that General Armitage Hux was shot by Allegiant General Pryde on the  _ Steadfast _ ?” 

“I… Was not aware, but I assumed. Because why would you ask me these questions if you could get them from the nerf’s mouth?” 

“Do you think there’s a possibility that General Armitage Hux survived that shooting?” 

“It depends,” Malarus replied.

“On what?” 

“Since I don’t know how his latest body was constructed, I can’t give you a clear answer on it. If he enforced the plating or maybe installed a shield. And where he was shot would make a great difference too.” 

“I shot him in the leg not an hour before, would that impact his capabilities?” Finn asked, speaking for the first time since Malarus had entered the room.

“I don’t think so,” Malarus frowned. “But again. I don’t know the new outlay of his droid body.” 

“So we’re not a step further,” Finn muttered. 

“You are,” Malarus replied. “Because I do know one thing about Armitage and that is that finding and capturing him will be next to impossible.” 

≠

Armitage brushed dust off his mask as he stepped into the building after fixing his blaster vest. It had been easy, especially with Saras’ intelligence, to find his target. And since he had little time to waste and even less patience, he had opted to go straight to the presumed hiding spot. 

The oppressive heat and darkness inside was almost palpable. 

Scanning his surroundings, Armitage made sure that there was no one in the building except his target. There was some kind of interference, but soon, he could confirm that there was no one else around. He began to slowly make his way towards his target on the third floor.

The decrepit building was on the outskirts of a larger town, and Armitage had taken into account that there could be some form of local authority that could interfere. But now, at the hottest time of day, he was sure that there would be no issue. 

Fully aware of the possibility that his steps could echo in the empty skeleton of the building, Armitage calculated every movement carefully. So far nothing had alerted his target, and he wanted to make the whole situation as easy as he could. 

Terex wasn’t worth any effort, after all. 

Despite the huge bounty on the former Security Bureau agent, Armitage knew why no one else had been successful in capturing the cyborg. Terex was good, even before he was fitted with his cyborg brain. But Armitage was fully machine and saw right throughTerex’ tactics. 

The room Terex hid in was large and mostly empty, except for a bed in a corner and a couple of desks stacked with blasters, slugs and other weaponry. Armitage knew that Terex was standing by the window looking over the surrounding area. He definitely didn’t expect the former agent to suddenly turn around and point a blaster at him. 

“You thought you were smart and that you could sneak up on me,” Terex ground out. 

“If you expect a smart retort from me, you’re wrong,” Armitage said and kept on walking. “I’m quite confident in the safety of my vest, to be honest.” 

“I’m not coming along with you,” Terex ground out.

“It’s not like I’m asking nicely. I have no regard for your wishes and your personal feeling towards your capture,” Armitage shrugged and rubbed a finger over his left thumb, satisfied when the notification popped up that he had deployed his small droid. 

“I will kill you,” Terex snapped and then suddenly stumbled and fell. 

A small droid jumped on his back, poking a syringe into Terex’ back. 

“Might I introduce you to my Pistoeka droid? He’s a relic from the Separatists and he’s been reprogrammed and equipped with a variety of options to take out my human bounties,” Armitage smiled as he watched Terex writhe on the floor. 

“Spineless bastard,” Terex grated. 

“I have a spine of durasteel, darling,” Armitage grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him. “Yours is still just flesh and bone, I presume.” 

Terex was about to answer, but the injection took its toll and he passed out. The Pistoeka deactivated itself and rolled up in a small ball that Armitage picked up to hang it from his belt. Only then he noticed the heat signature behind him. 

Turning slowly, he ground his jaw under the mask and made sure that he had his hands near his slug. 

“Hux.” 

“Swift,” Armtiage replied as he watched the human bounty hunter push his mask up to reveal his face. “Are you after my prize?” 

“Not Terex. Compared to you, he’s peanuts,” Swift grinned and pulled his blaster. “I know that the New Republic is searching for anyone who was affiliated with the First Order. They offer handsomely, I’m sure. You however, made countless other enemies in your time. People will outbid each other to get their hands on you,” he laughed. 

“For that you first have to capture me, darling,” Armitage sneered, as he saw the twitch of Swift’s finger.

Ducking to the side, the blast tore through his coat, burning a perfect hole into it. Cursing, Armitage started running towards the other bounty hunter, his feed full of calculations and possibilities to kill Swift. 

Armitage dodged two more blasts and jumped over Swift to grab him by the chin. Without hesitation, he twisted the other’s neck and his lifeless body tumbled to the ground. He landed lightly on his feet, looking at the dead body before him with disgust.

“Oh well,” Armitage muttered, dusting himself off. “I hope your bounty is high enough to buy another coat, you useless piece of nerf dung.” 

  
  


≠

Armitage sauntered over the market as he made his way to the House Benelex. He had been able to buy a grey coat from a small moon he had stopped on along the way to Paqualis III. There he had also sold most of the equipment he had scavenged from Swift’s ship and Terex’ hideout. 

Now a couple hundred credits richer, Armitage made his way over to Saras to bring her back to his own freighter. Terex had woken before they had landed on the moon and pleaded with Armitage to let him go, offering credits he didn’t have. Instead of entertaining the former agent, Armitage had simply locked him in a cargo hold. 

Saras greeted him with open arms and to Armitage’s surprise, she agreed to come along to the ship and pick up her shipment herself. 

As the two made their way towards the landing bay, Armitage noted that the people now automatically stepped away from them when they saw Saras. It seemed her reputation was well known on her planet and the locals gave her her space. 

“How did you take out Swift? I thought he was something like a superhuman.” 

“Even a superhuman bounty hunter is powerless against cervical dislocation,” Armitage said nonchalantly. 

“You broke his neck?” Saras laughed. “I really like your style.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!


	3. Crystaline against black

Kashyyk was wet. 

Almost as wet as Arkanis, but Armitage knew that was an almost impossible standard to reach. The water dripped into his hair and gave his sensor an almost disgusting feedback as it slid down his neck. Finally, it soaked into the collar of his coat and Armitage rolled his shoulders to shake the feeling. 

The shopkeeper was still rummaging around with another customer and Armitage started to get antsy. He had come here for a reason. 

After asking around at the inns and bars around the space port, he had been directed here. To the back alleys, for a job he was certain he’d get. Repairing ships and speeders was easy when one was able to access the codes and blueprints in his own head instead of a datapad. 

Finally, the customers left the store, without buying anything. The owner didn’t look too disappointed about it. Armitage arched his brow and finally approached the wookie slowly. 

“Are you Rrill?” He asked in Shyriiwook. 

“Yes,” the wookie replied, nodding. 

“I’m Brendan Cellin,” Armitage stuck his hand out. “I’m a mechanic and looking for a job.” 

“Are you now?” Rrill looked him up and down while shaking his hand. “With those thin hands I’m sure you are quick at fixing wiring.” 

“I can fix more than simple wiring,” Armitage replied, flexing his gloved hands. 

“We’ll see about that. Work starts an hour after sun up.” 

“Understood,” Armitage nodded. 

“Do you have a timekeeper?” Rrill asked. 

“I do. I just have to change from the Iridonian to Kashyyk time.” 

“You worked with Zabraks?” 

“Yes,” Armitage jerked his head, grinning behind the mask. “They are _different_ from other species, that’s for sure.” 

“The days are longer there, aren’t they? And their orbit is too?” 

“Yes. But I will just have to get used to that I guess,” Armitage shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to go through the whole change.” 

Rrill looked him up and down again. Then, he nodded and moved away, further into the dark shop. For a moment, Armitage remained in the darkened front room before stepping back out into the rainy street. 

Strolling down the roads, he noted that the majority of folk around barely took notice of him. He was just another traveller in the bustling port, and for once, he was glad that no one seemed to recognize him. 

≠

The sun in Kashyyk was brighter than any Armitage had ever seen. 

Not that he had ever spent much time planetside, but every sunrise he had seen so far had always been underwhelming. For him, it had always just been the rise of a ball of burning gas and fluid on the other side of the system that conveniently lit up the planet. He had never had much understanding for the other officers, especially ones underneath him, who found a sun so fascinating. 

Now, he found himself stopping in the dewy morning, despite his joints protesting the moist atmosphere. 

Armitage reached up and rubbed his hand over his mask, a motion he had grown accustomed to over the years. Not just to mimic human behaviour, but also to refocus his processors on the task at hand. Even through the thick leather he felt the motion and returned to the more urgent tasks: Showing up at his new workplace on time.

Once he had reached the shop, he found he had arrived before Rrill. Loitering around the door, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt the vibrations of a few other early morning risers pass by, his processor determining their height and speed before they even fully passed him. 

While he had never understood the Force, he had always imagined it to be similar to the way computers worked. 

His theory had been crushed the moment he had met Kylo Ren. Back then, he was still just a Knight and barely of age, and Armitage had looked down on Ren. He had been sent on many missions with that irrational idiot, having to look after the troll of a man. There was nothing rational or logic about the way Ren used the Force. 

Sometimes Armitage felt like Ren didn’t deserve that gift. 

“Daydreaming?” Rrill said. 

“Not really,” Armitage replied and opened his eyes. 

He had felt the Wookie approach and saw that the other was visibly disappointed that he hadn’t managed to startle Armitage. 

“Come on in,” Rrill said. 

“How long will I be working every day?” Armitage asked as he watched the wookie flick on the lights and open the blinds. 

“Standard. Six hours and a break of half an hour in between,” Rrill replied. “Pay will be measured by your abilities.” 

Armitage nodded slowly.

“I can live with that,” he said. 

“Well then. Show me what you can do and I’ll hire you.” 

With that, Rrill motioned for Armitage to follow him into a backroom with all sorts of miscellaneous parts and half-finished projects. 

“This speeder needs mending. If you can figure out what’s wrong with it, you’ll be surely hired,” Rrill said, the grin on his face telling. 

Armitage gave a nod and began working. Returning to the front of the shop, Rrill left him alone and Armitage rolled his eyes. He was fully aware that most shop owners liked to test their new recruits, and by the looks of it, this speeder wasn’t only ancient, but also severely damaged. 

But Armitage was determined to prove Rrill wrong, even if that meant he would have to clean rust flakes out of his eye sockets at the end of the day. 

≠

Poe knelt next to BB-8, as the droid slowly scanned the area. 

“Are you sure that Malarus didn’t lie?” He asked again. 

“I’m certain,” Rey said. “The Force is always right.” 

She stood on the remains of a TIE fighter, her green cloak rustling softly in the everlasting gusts of wind on Exegol. Her hair was braided intricately and decorated with shimmering rings. Poe found that she looked all too similar to pictures of General Leia when she had been young. 

“We need to figure out where Hux went. He carries valuable information if he truly is a droid,” Rey jumped down, landing beside Poe and BB-8. “He could help us hunt down more of the remaining First Order officers.” 

“I know,” Poe sighed and stood up. “But you need to understand that while he could help us a great deal, finding him in this wasteland with about a thousand interferences will be short of a miracle.” 

“We have to try,” Rey said. “I owe it to everyone who died fighting here.” 

Poe put an arm around her shoulders. He understood her pain, her sorrow. He had lost so many of his comrades in the struggle against the First Order, and now it felt almost surreal to have the victory of the war machinery of that galactic force.

In the distance, Poe spotted Finn, who was searching through some rubble and debris. Something warm bloomed in him when Finn looked over and waved gently. He was so glad that they had met, even if it took a war and almost dying several times.

“Have you found something?” Finn asked, levitating himself over to the other two.

That was new too. After finding out about Finn’s Force sensitivity, Leia had begun training him and Rey with the help of the ghosts of several dead Jedi from the Clone Wars.

“Nothing so far,” Rey replied and sighed. “There has to be something. Don’t the battle ships keep some form of indestructible record?”

“They do. The data heart is elementary for most ships when something malfunctions. But finding one in this mess is difficult and finding the right one nearly impossible,” Poe replied with a shrug. “There were hundreds of those ships and ten times that amount in smaller vessels that Hux could’ve used for his escape.”

Rey grunted and kicked a piece of durasteel aside.

“We’ll find it. I’m sure Rey,” Finn said. “Maybe Master Kenobi can give us some advice.”

Since Poe was not blessed with the Force, he didn’t know if Master Kenobi actually had something important to say. And watching someone have a seemingly one sided conversation was a little bit boring, so he turned his attention back to BB-9.

≠

Armitage rolled the clari-crystalline ball around in his hand. He had found the little trinket in a small shop run by a Zabrak lady with dark green eyes. They had met when she brought in a broken hydroevaporator and since Rrill had been busy with something else, Armitage had attended to her.

Fudia was just as stoic as himself and had little to no concern for nonsense. She worked mostly with clari-crystalline, creating bowls, figures and sometimes even art with it. And now she was one of the few people he knew on Kashyyk.

“If you want that, you can have it for free,” Fudia muttered and lifted a large bucket of broken clari-crystalline to dump into a machine in the back of her shop.

“I was merely curious,” Armitage replied. “You run a business here, you can’t give out things for free.”

“I can if I want to,” she grunted. “See it as a thank you for fixing up my hydroevaporator. Without it, I would’ve drowned in this humidity.”

“Glad to hear I’m not the only one who hates it,” Armitage chuckled.

“It sucks,” Fudia dropped her bucket back to where she got it from. “I’m done here. Gonna close up shop and head home.”

“You’re kicking me out?” Armitage joked.

“I’m asking you if you want to walk home together. Since we literally live next door to each other,” Fudia rolled her eyes. “You’re one of the few people I get along with on this planet so spending time with you is better than spending time with others.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Armitage laughed and stepped out into the alley, Fudia on his heels.

While she was locking the door and checking the security system, Armitage looked at the clari-crystalline ball again. It wasn’t bigger than his thumb nail and yet inside of it, swirls of red and yellow intermixed and danced frozen in the clear marble. It contrasted nicely against the stark black of his leather gloves. 

“It’s pretty, eh?” Fudia asked.

“I like the colours a lot,” Armitage shrugged. “That’s all.”

Then he ended all further discussion about the marble by tucking it into his coat pocket. Fudia arched her brows and shrugged.

“You’re going to the races next month?” She asked, rapidly changing the subject.

“I’m not much interested in races. Especially pod racing or whatever this is you’re doing here.”

“It’s not just boring old podracing, it’s a team sport. There’s the person racing and another one who’s responsible for shooting down targets while moving. It requires a little bit more finesse than normal podracing,” Fudia chuckled. “It’s great fun to watch the different strategies.”

“Why do Wookies always need to shoot at things?” Armitage asked and rolled his eyes.

“They are great warriors and haven’t been conquered by the First Order just because of that,” Fudia shrugged.

The only reason for not invading Kashyyk was Ren’s insistence that he wanted to deal with that planet himself. But Armitage was smart enough not to tell Fudia that particular piece of information.

“Maybe there’s some truth behind that,” Armitage chuckled. “I’ll think about it for sure.”

Fudia grinned at him.

≠

Finn reached out with the Force and shivered as he felt the Dark encroach on his mind. It was difficult to filter through that, but he managed, trying to feel for Hux’ impression on his surroundings, and attempting to predict where Hux had went and what he did before leaving Exegol.

There was a lot of noise and confusion, mixed with terror and fear.

But as expected, no pain, no hurt despite the torn uniform pieces hanging off his body. Finn’s heart rate elevated as he saw a dark, crumbling corridor from Hux’ perspective. The ship fell from the sky, but Hux stayed planted as the world around him seemingly collapsed on itself.

Finn felt the knocking of his heart through his ribcage and the fear coursing through his body like cold flames.

The next thing he knew was that he stood outside, amongst the ruined remains of the Last Order’s fleet. Stumbling over broken TIEs and parts of Star Destroyers, until he spotted a half-collapsed ship, the hangar doors hanging on just barely. And inside were rows upon rows of TIEs.

Finn gasped loudly and opened his eyes.

His heart was still thundering in his chest and he felt woozy and out of it. But at least now he knew where they had to go to figure out Hux’ whereabouts.

≠

Rrill looked excited when Armitage strolled into the shop the next day and that already bode ill news. Armitage had never seen the Wookie excited about anything before. So he carefully inquired. 

“A friend of mine bought a pod-racer and we want to fix it up for the races. But we’ll need your help,” Rrill said with a grin.

“Will I get paid for it? And do you even have a driver and someone to shoot?” Armitage asked sharply. 

“You will get the fourth of the prize, if we win. And we haven’t yet looked into it, but we will figure something out for sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!


	4. Molten Metal

Armitage walked out of the building and strolled after Rrill. He was still not entirely convinced about the race, but he had signed up for a job and he could always opt out if the driver was fishy. So far he had trusted Rrill more than he had expected. Maybe that was dangerous. Armitage wasn’t sure what the next few days would hold for him. 

Ducking into a side alley, Armitage almost turned around and ran. 

Behind a tall wookie with dark fur and a light green vest stood no other than Kylo Ren. He looked different, the scar on his face healed perfectly with no trace of the injury left on his pale skin. His clothing had changed too, but he had stuck with his black-red-colour scheme. 

Ren was supposed to be dead. Whether by Rey’s or Palpatine’s hand, Armitage didn’t care- he was supposed to be dead. He had heard the blaring alarms that had gone off as he fought his way out of the doomed Star Destroyer shortly after Ren’s demise. If Armitage were human, he would’ve surely felt panicked and cold, but now he only wanted to jump Ren and murder that bitch. 

He had barely registered that the wookies had spoken with each other and now moved to enter a small shop. Ren called something over to them in Shyrriwook. Then the two were left alone in the alley. 

Not wasting any time, Ren raised his hand and attempted to choke Armitage. 

“Stop with that nonsense!” Armitage growled and tore his mask off. “I can’t be killed with that magic.” 

He pulled his slug slinger out and pointed it at Ren’s chest. Ren pulled his sabre out and ignited it. 

“What are you?” 

“Why don’t you ask Snoke, he created me.” 

“I had my suspicions that you weren’t human…” 

“I’m not entirely human,” Armitage snapped. 

“Whatever,” Kylo grunted. 

“It makes a difference, trust me. I’m not just a mindless droid, even though my body suggests that,” Armitage replied. 

“You were just a pawn in other, greater men’s plans!” Ren ground out and pointed his sabre at Armitage. 

“Do you really think that Snoke would go through the trouble of saving the mind of someone who is of no consequence? Do you think he willingly sacrificed energy and time in an attempt to bring back a useless pawn?” Armitage spat out. “I think not.” 

[Rebloggable](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/darthtenrec/638677009841750016)

He raised his slug slinger and squeezed the trigger. Ren was stupid enough raise his sabre and attempt to deflect the slug, but predictable he only made it worse for him. Maybe it had been simply muscle memory, Armitage didn’t care. He watched with satisfaction how Ren’s black poncho was signed with little bits of melted metal. 

“I always knew that you were stupid,” Armitage chuckled. 

Ren had barely avoided getting molten metal over his face and now flicked his poncho aside where it had been burned. 

“For once I think you have the upper hand,” Ren said and twirled his sabre slowly. 

“I would say the same thing,” Armitage replied, brimming with satisfaction. “Now, putting aside that we hate each other, we need to figure out what to do with the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.” 

Ren licked his lips nervously and sighed. 

“I know,” he said before turning the sabre off again. 

He moved into a relaxed position and inhaled deeply before tucking his weapon away under his poncho. Armitage kept his slug slinger raised for another moment, before sheathing it. He watched Ren run a hand over his face. 

“We could play along…” 

“And pretend to accept each other?” Armitage scoffed. “Ren, you’ve never in your life lied to someone and gotten away with it. Your emotions are written on your face!” 

Picking up his mask from the ground, Armitage saw the dirty look Ren shot him. 

“I am quite capable of fooling people around me,” Ren snarled. 

“Somehow I doubt that,” Armitage replied and fastened the mask around his face again. “But it’s the safest and least suspicious course of action, that’s for sure.” 

“So you’re willing to go along with it?” Ren asked. 

“I don’t want to participate in this weird race. But my boss is invested in this shit, so there’s hardly anything I could do to change that.” 

“I didn’t expect you to be loyal. Last I heard of you was that Pryde found out that you were the spy who leaked information to the Resistance.” 

“Do you really believe that?” Armitage scoffed. “Ren, how stupid can you be? I was hoping that somehow I could trap that vermin and finally have the upper hand over the Resistance. But my plan misfired. I have no idea who the spy was, nor do I care.” 

Ren stared at him. That piece of information seemed to be news to him. 

“It was a spur of the moment decision. I couldn’t have let Pryde kill them, they had information that could’ve been valuable to us,” Armitage continued. “But since you decided that I apparently needed a keeper, you brought Pryde in to stop me from doing my job. And if you haven’t noticed, I was good at my job.” 

“You never do anything unplanned.” 

“Extreme times call for extreme measures. My hands were bound by you and Pryde,” Armitage wanted nothing more than to strangle Ren. “I was loyal to the First Order my entire life and you come along, ruin my weapon and put my abuser in charge of all of what I accomplished.” 

“I wasn’t aware…” 

“You weren’t _aware_ of a lot of things Ren!” Armitage shook his head. “Did you ever stop to consider what consequences and hidden issues your action entailed? You not only cost me my weapon and a number of ships, you also indirectly are responsible for the death of one of my _best_ officers.” 

“Captain Phasma’s death was at the hands of that traitor.” 

“Don’t think I am not aware of that,” Armitage stepped forward and jabbed his finger against Ren’s chest. “But it was your job to hunt Dameron, the girl and FN-2187 down.” 

Ren rolled his eyes and threw his hands up. 

“We can push blame from one to the other, but we can’t change what happened.” 

“No, we can’t. But you can for once in your miserable life actually do something that benefits someone,” Armitage dropped his hand and stared Ren down. “Play along. And never _ever_ question my loyalty to the Order again.”

“Fine,” Ren snapped. 

“Also, you look pretty good for someone dead,” Armitage’s lips curled into a cruel smile under his mask. “How did you pull that off?” 

“Remember when my uncle projected himself across the galaxy?” 

“And you lost your mind over it?” 

“Shut up,” Ren snapped. “I did something similar. But I am a lot more powerful than my uncle, so the strain only weakend me and my presence in the Force.” 

“How were you killed?” Armitage asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.” 

“The girl decapitated me,” Ren replied. 

“Oh really?” Armitage was amused. “I didn’t think that would be her style, but taking into account that she hasn’t been around long enough to really develop a sense of self, it’s not all that surprising.” 

“You were shot in the chest and leg,” Ren said. 

“Yes, but I didn’t need a fancy Force projection to make my enemies believe I was dead.” 

“No, just your weird machine body.” 

Suddenly Ren jerked his head and looked at Armitage, confused. 

“How come I didn’t notice the joints in your face before?” 

“Because both Palpatine and Snoke tricked everyone around me into thinking that I was entirely human. However, the glimmer effect wore off after they died.”

Ren nodded slowly. Of course that would make sense to him. 

“Shall we go inside?” Armitage asked. 

“Just one more question, what name did you give them? Your boss I mean?” 

“Brendan.” 

“Missing your late father?” 

“I didn’t miss him, not once, especially when it counted.” 

Ren smirked and for the first time Armitage didn’t want to wipe it off his face with a blaster shot. 

“I’m Darin.” 

“Fine Darin, this is your place of work, lead the way!” 

≠

The engine was idling while Rey stood at the third location of Hux’s coordinates to jump. At this point she was frustrated. Never in her life had she been aware that Hux was that good a pilot. 

Not only had he started with his hyperspace jumps almost right after the layer of madness that surrounded Exegol, he had jumped to the most heinous and outlandish regions of the galaxy. And all that in a craft so small, agile and breakable that Rey was surprised he hadn’t been killed at one of the jump locations. 

“ _Silver leader calling Rey, Rey come in please, over,_ ” Jessica Pava’s voice crackled through the com. 

“Rey to Silver leader, I’m listening, over.” 

“ _Where are you, we lost your trace, over,_ ” Jessica sounded genuinely concerned.

“I was hyperspace jumping to find where Hux went. But it’s hopeless, the way he jumped and the locations he chose are just insane, over.” 

“ _Then you better come back, over_.” 

“I will, over.” 

The com falls silent and Rey exhales slowly. 

If what Malarus said was right, then it was no surprise that with the reflexes and computing power of a machine, these kinds of jumps must’ve been easy travel for Hux. Not taking into account that the man knew the machine better than anyone else since he built and designed it. 

Leaning her head against the transparisteel and looked out into the rolling hills of some backwater farming planet she had just jumped to. There was little that she could do right now and she hated that. 

Being powerful was useless unless you also had the abilities your enemy had. 

She might’ve bested Ren and Palpatine and Snoke, but they had played the same game as her. And the rules had been easy, compared to whatever Hux was dabbling in. For a moment Rey worried if she had been focusing all her efforts on the wrong man. 

Then she closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. 

Searching for an answer she came upon someone. They were warm and soft. Yet a certain strength laid underneath the first impression, strength honed through years and years of practice and built on knowledge of the Force she couldn’t comprehend. 

“Who are you?” Rey asked. 

“I am Jocasta Nu. I was the last Chief Librarian of the Jedi Order.” 

“Hi Jocasta.” 

“Hello Rey.” 

“I… I’m worried I made a mistake,” Rey whispered as hot tears welled from her eyes. 

“In choosing the enemy you focused all your strength on, _hm_?” 

“Yes.” 

“Let me tell you something, padawan. We’ve all made mistakes in life. Your mistake was to look for the obvious threat against the right order of things. And that was clearly, unmistakably Kylo Ren. It’s not your fault that you accidentally overlooked a more subtle issue.” 

“I might’ve unleashed a greater evil on the galaxy.” 

“Rey, I understand that you might feel that way. However you must understand that you are not infallible. You are not all knowing. And most important of all, you are just at the beginning of your journey. No one can predict what General Armitage Hux might do in the future. But you can choose how you anticipate his next move,” Jocasta’s voice was softer now. 

A warmth, almost like a hug, enveloped Rey and gave her back some semblance of hope. 

“Okay,” she said in a small voice. “But… Can I talk to you again?” 

“Sure my dear padawan. I’m here for you. And so is my knowledge and wisdom.” 

Rey sniffed and dried her face before plotting her route back to the rendezvous point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this fic, please leave a comment, it motivates the writer!


	5. Purple Smoke

Malarus raised her head to see Rey and Leia standing outside her prison cell. 

“Hello,” she said and sat up straighter before putting the datapadd aside she had been given by Leia. 

“Commander Malarus,” Rey began and stopped herself.

“We have a few more questions for you,” Leia said and stepped around Rey. “Please come with us.” 

Malarus frowned, but followed the order. To her surprise, they weren’t accompanied by guards, as they made their way into an interrogation chamber. Leia pointed to a chair and Malarus took her seat opposite Leia and Rey. 

“I understand that you know a lot about General Armitage Hux and his habits,” Leia began. “And that you might still have information that could be valuable for us.” 

“Please remember that after he grew up, I barely saw Armitage.” 

“Yes, but he kept contact with you over time and you occasionally saw him.” 

“That is true,” Malarus said and looked at Leia with a raised brow. “But if you want me to paint you a picture of how his character was, it won’t be accurate.” 

“We were wondering if he had a secret base somewhere,” Rey said quickly. “A hiding spot of some sort.” 

“He did. It was an old run down ship on…” Malarus frowned. “I always forget the name of the planet. It had something to do with the Sith tribe.” 

“Korriban?” Leia asked. 

“Yes. I think at least. There were some ancient ruins around it. I lost a number of soldiers as they explored the catacombs,” Malarus shrugged. “That’s the only thing I can tell you.” 

“I understand,” Leia nodded. “You were there?”

“Once, years ago. Armitage called in a favour.”

“Would you be able to recognize the position of that ship?” 

“I wouldn’t bet on it, but we can give it a try.” 

Leia nodded gravely and inhaled deeply. 

“We will discuss what you told me and decide how to proceed. Thank you for your help.” 

≠

  
  


Armitage heard Ren approach. The other man had not even attempted to mask his approach. It was early in the morning and Armitage had been working on their podracer for the last few hours. Armitage had discarded his mask and gloves before and didn’t bother reaching for them when Ren spoke. 

“What are you doing?” Ren asked. 

His tone was sharp and almost accusatory. 

“I’m doing everything in my power to make sure we survive the race,” he replied calmly. 

“Why do I doubt that?” 

“Ren, explain to me why I would want to kill myself?” Armitage turned around and threw his wrench at Ren. 

The other man dodged the object and leaned against the side of the racer. The rising sun shone onto the right side of Kylo’s face, casting sharp and long shadows over his left eye and cheek. Pulling a face, he rolled his eyes.

And remained silent.

[Rebloggable](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/darthtenrec/638677009841750016)

“I already died once, and trust me, I do not want to repeat that experience any time soon,” Armitage said, arching his brow. “You haven’t really experienced death, so I suggest that you shut up. Also we both know that the speeder is not really up to the challenge of getting us to the first place, let alone the finish line.”

Ren was still refusing to interact with him, so Armitage picked up his wrench again. 

He wasn’t surprised at how little they trusted each other. The continuous and never ending power struggle they had found themselves in during their past life had left both with more than enough trust issues. 

As he worked away, he was keenly aware that Ren watched his every move. 

“Do you ever sleep?” 

“Not really,” Armitage said slowly. “Sleep isn’t something I need. It’s enough to recharge my batteries and back up my data every two or three days.” 

“That’s why you were always around. I was already wondering how you managed to run a ship, build a weapon and keep up with your research at the same time,” Ren shifted and closed his eyes, face turned into the sun. 

“The only perk of being what I am.” 

“Nothing more?” 

“Ren, I can’t feel the breeze that’s blowing through my hair or sense the sun rays on my skin. My processors are able to calculate the sensation and give me an impression of them, but nothing gets close to the actual _feeling_ ,” Armitage closed the panel and tucked his wrench away. 

“Do you miss it? Feeling?” 

“I do feel,” Armitage said and rubbed some grease off his fingers. “Emotions are the same as before. Seeing is heightened and so is hearing. Taste however is completely lost and unnecessary. I don’t know if I miss it, since it’s been so long.” 

He fell silent for a moment staring at the grime that has worked its way between his finger joints. The grease had left grey streaks that looked very much out of place on the perfect white of his artificial skin. 

“I spent most of my time on ships anyway, so my body was adapted to that life. Who needs things they rarely use?” He shrugged. 

“Why did Snoke save you?” 

“No idea. One of his absurd plans.” 

They fell silent again. 

Armitage looked at Ren staring at the tips of his own boots. He looked a lot more carefree now, even though he still reminded Armitage of a sulking child sometimes. A lock of hair fell into Ren’s face, the sun turning the dark brown into a softer colour. The golden light painted Ren beautifully. 

Armitage jerked his head around, irritated at where that thought had come from. 

“We should get going,” he said sharply. 

≠

The sand in the start lane was damp and turned up all over the place. When Armitage climbed into the back of the speeder, he was reminded of a rumor he had heard some years ago. It was about Lord Vader and therefore only whispered about behind hands and closed doors. Even after the man had died, his name and legacy bore too much terror to talk about him casually. 

It had been about the fact that Vader never visited planets with sand or sand-like ground cover, Armitage recalled. 

According to the other cadet who had told Armitage the story, it was because the sand would get into the fine and elaborate cyborg body parts the Sith Lord needed to move around. Now as an android, Armitage fully understood how tedious sand was and how long it took to repair the damaged parts.

As he sat down he also remembered that he once even needed to build a whole new body after his old one was exposed to sand on Jakku. That put him in a bad mood. 

“What are you frowning about?” Ren asked as he settled into the seat in front. 

His head was supposed to be between Armitage legs, but since the man was so tall, he towered over the original neck brace and they had had to fit a new one. 

“Bad memories,” Armitage muttered and tried to put his helmet on, even though he technically didn’t need one. 

“You might need to take the mask off,” Ren said quietly. 

“I guess so,” Armitage’s hand hovered over the clasp in the back. “But what if someone sees it?” 

“I’ll cover for you, hold on,” Ren closed his eyes and then nodded. “Now.” 

Armitage took the mask off and pulled the helmet over his face. It felt weird relying on Ren like that. But on the other hand, he was about to sit on the back of an old podracer and shoot down the designated target. A podracer driven _by Ren_. 

His neck joints gave an irritated jerk. 

“You look almost human when you do that,” Ren said over the comm.

“Shut up,” Armitage replied. 

He only heard an amused huff and then Ren did shut up. But it was presumably only because the 10 second warning came up on the holos on both sides of the start line. 

Armitage grabbed his rifle and readied it. In front of him, he watched Ren ready the engines and the defuser. He pretended not to notice the shake in Ren’s hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed their bosses, already sloshed enough to make a spectacle of themselves. 

“Let’s pretend we survive this,” Armitage began. “What are we going to do after?” 

“Get drunk,” Ren replied. 

There was a nervous undertone in his voice, but before Armitage could comment on it, the lights turned on. The seconds ticked by and then with a violent jolt forward the race started.

The wind whipped around them and Armitage felt the air pressure force him into the seat. His elevated position gave him a good overview but also made him vulnerable. Adjusting in his seat, he lifted his rifle a little. 

Armitage set every little bit of available processing power to target orientation. While he knew that it was unlikely to miss any of his targets, he was still incredibly nervous. Maybe it was Ren projecting his own stress onto everyone around him, or maybe Armitage himself was unsettled. 

Regardless, his hands shook a little as he lifted the rifle, searching for their first target. 

The woods became denser as they hurtled further and further away from the start line. There was one racer right behind them, but Armitage had paid no mind to the other ones, so he had no idea what position they held. 

“Don’t stress the engine too much this early,” he warned Ren when the first corner approached. 

The target was easy to spot, shaking slightly from the last hit it had received. Armitage had no trouble hitting it right on and he heard Ren chuckle over the comms. 

“That was brilliant.” 

“I never miss,” Armitage replied calmly, hiding his own excitement. “Told you earlier.” 

It had been a long time since he had done something purely for the fun of it. Ren always brought out the worst in him when they were together, but today, that might just be a good thing. 

Another racer crept into view and Ren chuckled again. 

“They really overstress their engine,” he said. 

“Don’t get too cocky, this shit bucket has to last three laps,” Armitage reminded him. 

“If I mess up the time, you’ll need to make up for it with a perfect target score.” 

“Why don’t you stop telling me what to do-” Armitage barked, shooting target number two. “-and drive?” 

Ren laughed and took the next corner a little too sharply. 

“Don’t tempt me to shoot you in the head,” Armitage snapped. 

“Wouldn’t that be fun…” 

Armitage scoffed. 

Entering an interconnected tunnel system, Armitage’s optical sensors stumbled a bit over the sudden change in lighting, but caught up quickly enough to locate the next few targets. The other racer in front didn’t want to give up it’s position and Armitage heard how the engine slowly, but steadily ate itself. 

Until, finally and inevitably, a small explosion destroyed the racer. 

Ducking his head out of instinct, Armitage couldn’t see what had happened to the passengers. Ren had to do a lot of dodging to avoid getting hit by any of the metal shards flying through the air. They exited the caves, and Armitage heard Ren’s sharp exhale. 

“Don’t overstress the engine,” Armitage muttered. 

To his surprise, Ren did slow a little, but before Armitage could say anything, the next target appeared. 

It was high up on a tree, barely visible. Knowing fully well that a massive drop leading into a valley was approaching, Armitage had to react quickly. The rifle flew up and he took aim. Just that moment the drop came and only thanks to Armitage’s processor he kept his aim true. 

“Did you hit it?” Ren asked as they approached the start line for their second lap.

“I think so,” Armitage replied. 

“Do you want me to go slower the next time?” 

“That… That would help yes,” Armitage said. 

“Okay.” 

≠

  
  


Korriban was nothing like Rey had expected. 

The atmosphere was eerie and something dangerous hung in the air. Glancing over to Finn, Rey noted that he too looked uncomfortable. The sharp wind blowing through the open transport ship made her shiver, even though Korriban was almost as hot at Jakku. 

“How are we supposed to find the damn ship here?” Finn asked after they had landed in a valley. 

“We sent out some searcher droids,” Rey replied. “One has transmitted back some images that looked promising. They were taken somewhere over there.” 

Rey pointed towards a cliff side with jagged rocks littering the coarse sand around it. Finn nodded and led the way as Rey followed him, directing him over the difficult terrain while he searched the area with binoculars. 

“It should be close by,” Rey said when Finn stopped to compare what they saw with the droid’s images.” 

“I think if we round that bit we might be standing right in front of the cavern,” he agreed and handed the datapad back to her. 

His predictions had come true. Once they had walked around a large boulder, they found the cavern. Clearly, something large had been stored right outside it for a long period of time. 

Finn jumped over a couple of rocks and landed in a small pile of ash. He frowned and bent down. As he gently pulled a small piece of fabric out of the ash, Rey landed by his side. 

“What is that?” She asked.

“Uniform fabric, I assume it’s from Hux’ pants,” Finn handed her the piece and rummaged around some more. “But there is no badge or cylinder left. He must’ve disposed of that in another way.” 

“Cylinder?” 

“Rank cylinders that every officer carried on their person at all times. It had vital information about their medical needs and track record on it,” Finn stood again. “I just don’t know why Hux would burn it.” 

“Maybe he wanted to make the disposal of his uniform something memorable,” Rey shrugged. 

“Probably,” Finn turned to the cave. “But I really think we got the right spot. It looks like something heavy and large was sitting here for a long time.” 

“Do you think BB-8 might find some traces?” 

“Won’t hurt to try it,” Finn nodded. “He might be able to find things we are unable to spot.” 

≠

Armitage saw the finish line and felt nothing but relief.

At this point of the race, the engine was almost at its breaking point and Ren’s concentration had lessened noticeably. Even Armitage felt weirdly drained and sluggish, his processors occasionally stuttering. But he hadn’t missed a single target, and he knew that that combined with Ren’s insane driving, they would surely be far ahead. 

With a little bit of luck they might even win the race, he thought. 

The shaking underneath his hands got even worse and Armitage sensed the whole pod racer breaking apart mid air. Suddenly, Ren let go of the controls and reached behind, grasping Armitage’s leg and pulling him out of the racer. They landed in the sand and Armitage shuddered with the uncomfortable sensory overload of it. 

Then, the podracer exploded in a plume of dark purple smoke. 

Ren turned onto his back and heaved out a loud breath before sitting up. He was dusted in sand and grime. A racer sped past them and threw more sand into their face. Slowly Armitage got on his feet, still shaking from the impact and uneasy with the sand in his gears. 

“That was quite a finish,” he said and stretched a hand out to Ren. 

“I guess,” Ren replied. 

Getting back to his feet, Ren grinned and pulled his helmet off. Shaking out his long hair he threw sand all around him. Armitage flinched away from him. 

“Stop that Ren,” Armitage growled and took his own helmet off. 

“Can you at least call me by my first name?” 

“Fine. Stop that Kylo, I already have half the sand on this blasted planet in my joints and I don't need any more of it!” 

“That’s better,” Kylo laughed. “I’m sorry about the sand. And you might want to put something over your…” He gestured vaguely to his own chin. “Or do you want me to cover it up for you?” 

“I don’t have anything to put over it,” Armitage said. 

“Take this,” Kylo pulled his scarf off and handed it over. “I think you won’t be bothered by the smell of my human sweat?” 

“Not that I will love it, but it’s better than nothing.” 

Kylo grinned. 

It was odd to see the other so carefree and in such a humorous mood. Armitage only knew Kylo as the brooding figure in the corner of the room. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the fact that both had left a traumatizing time behind them. But he liked this side of Kylo, as unfamiliar as it was. 

Taking the sweaty square of fabric from Kylo’s fingers and wondering how he came to enjoy the presence of his former adversary, Armitage found himself smiling too. Or, at least, as close as he could come to smiling. 

“Are you baring your teeth or are you smiling?” Kylo asked playfully. 

“I was trying to smile, but sadly, my face was literally not designed to do that,” Armitage replied with a chuckle. 

He wound the scarf over his nose and mouth. Tying it in the back of his head, his sensors analyzed the scent stuck to the fabric. It was a mix of motor oil, sweat and a bit of damp forest. 

Kylo had watched him do it with a quizzical expression on his face. 

“Let’s go and see what the score board has to say about this whole mess,” he said abruptly, and set off, back towards the finish line. 

Armitage followed him, easily keeping pace with Kylo.

Moving in the sand was harder for him, his movements jerkier than usual. He couldn’t wait to come home and clean out his gears. It wasn’t just the uncomfortable sensory issue or that he had limited range of motion. He was deathly worried that the sand would ruin his joints so bad that he needed to replace them. 

He tried not to think about that. 

Finding replacement parts for himself would be a complicated problem. If his body ever failed… It didn’t bear thinking about it. 

“Would you look at that,” Kylo said and stopped right in front of Armitage.

Right over the main tribune was the ranking of the three highest ranking. And at the top, with an almost insane point lead where they. 

“Told you I was a good shot!” Armitage said with a nonchalant shrug.

“You’re so full of yourself!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!


	6. Gears Slowly Moving

Armitage sat on his unused bed and brushed even more sand out of his knee socket. On the opposite side of the room was Kylo who worked on Armitage’s other leg. 

The whole setting felt weird to Armitage, but Kylo had offered to help him. Kylo had been disappointed when Armitage had told him that he would be unable to attend the celebration because he needed to take care of his body. For some reason Kylo had then offered to help him clean up.

And Armitage had said yes. 

“Have you ever considered making a protective layer around your joints?” 

“They do have to look human. Adding another layer would make them so much bulkier. Or I would have to make the joints smaller and therefore the range of motion would be more limited,” Armitage replied. “Neither really works for me.” 

Kylo grunted and sighed. He reassembled Armitage’s foot and nodded. 

“I think I’m done now,” he stood up and walked over to where Armitage sat. 

Kneeling down in front of him, Armitage set his own tools aside. 

“Do you know how to connect that?” He asked slowly. 

“From what I’ve seen, it’s no different than a regular droid leg,” Kylo said.

“It’s not,” Armitage looked away from where Kylo began to re-attach the wires to each other. 

“Is this uncomfortable?” Kylo asked as he worked.

“A little. It feels… It’s hard to describe especially since it’s been so long that I was human. You could compare it to sensory overload and limp that fell asleep -ah-” he jerked when Kylo attached the last wire. “at the same time.” 

“Sounds very un-fun.” 

“Eloquent as ever,” Armitage muttered. 

“Oh shut up. Are you done with the other leg?” 

“Yes, you can put that together as well if you like,” Armitage handed the other limb over to Kylo.

He didn’t like the attachment better the second time round, but he had to admit that it was easier than having to do it all by himself. 

“Thanks Kylo,” Armitage said while his subconsciousness re-calibrated his system. “I would’ve taken so much longer without you.” 

“No issue. I kind of brought this whole thing upon you after all.” 

Kylo grinned at him and Armitage nodded slightly. 

“You did, but you also kind of saved what little of a life I have left,” he said and stood up, grabbing his mask and coat off the bed. 

“If you want, I can hide your… Hinges? Is that the correct term?” 

“It is yes. If it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s a little mind exercise for me. But you might want to bring the mask along, I don’t know how well I can handle Wookie liquor,” Kylo rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“That strong?” Armitage asked, as he slipped into his coat and stuffed the mask into one of the pockets. 

“It has to get Wookies drunk, so yes. I have never had much trouble with other alcohol, but the beer Wookies brew… That’s something else entirely.” 

“Well then, good thing I am incapable of getting drunk,” Armitage opened the door of his room and let Kylo out. “I might have to get you home after this.” 

“That’s a very real possibility,” Kylo said. “I am quite heavy though.” 

“I do have superhuman strength...,” Armitage replied and locked the door. “So don’t worry about that too much. And if it’s too much of a bother, I might even leave you in a ditch somewhere. That’s where you belong, after all.” 

He winked at Kylo and made his way towards the stairs. 

“Oh fuck you too!” Kylo snapped behind him, but Armitage heard the suppressed laughter in his voice.

≠

  
  


Leia just sighed after Rey and Finn finished explaining everything they had seen to her. 

“I always knew that there would be splinter cells after the last battle, but thinking that General Hux would be one of them…” She closed her eyes. “With the knowledge that he is no longer human, and the fact that he still might have access to a vast data bank with useful intel on other high ranking First Order personnel, this whole muddled chaos only gets worse.” 

“So far, I haven’t heard anything about him resurfacing. Not even in whispers,” Mon Mothma said slowly. “On the other hand, I assume General Hux is clever enough to lay low for a while.” 

“Don’t forget that he doesn’t only have enemies in us, but also a lot of First Order officers and neutral planets he raided,” Finn pulled up a spreadsheet with a long list of bounties put on General Hux’ head. “He won’t show his face if he can help it.” 

“How do you suggest we proceed?” Mon looked at Leia. 

“Wait it out. Take care of the prisoners we have taken so far and give them the trial they require,” she inhaled. “Chasing a ghost across the galaxy won’t help us in the slightest. Let’s focus our resources and energy on things we can actually grasp.” 

“I think that would be for the best,” Rey agreed. “Even though we can’t tell what General Hux will do, isn’t it a good sign that he hasn’t attempted to attack or sabotage us?” 

“Just because he hasn’t done anything so far doesn’t mean that he won’t try anything in the future,” Finn rubbed his chin. “But you’re right. Maybe he has really managed to vanish and won’t resurface again. Or he died, who knows.” 

“We will just have to wait and see,” Leia agreed. 

Suddenly, Rey felt a cold shiver take over her body, and her knees buckled underneath her. Falling backwards, she gasped as her mind filled with a vague and hazy scene. The sharp scent of alcohol blocked out any other olfactory sensations. She saw shadowy, hairy figures sitting across from her at a table. 

Loud music and cheering deafened her and she had a hard time keeping her focus on the scene. The Force connection was shaky at best and the one projecting into her mind was very drunk apparently. Her head fell forward and she saw broad hands and then the connection was severed. 

“Rey!” Leia called, keeping her upright as she came to. 

Finn was on her other side and Mon leaned on the table towards her. Drawing a shaky breath she tried to stand again. 

“I had a vision? Or a projection of some sort?” She reached for her throbbing skull. “I… I don’t know anyone who could be so strong. They were drunk out of their mind.” 

“Are you sure it was a projection?” Finn asked, brows creased with worry. 

“Yes, it was too jumbled and hazy for a vision,” Rey nodded firmly, still trying to shake the last bits of the projection.

Leia had a knowing look in her eyes, and Rey frowned at her. Did her mentor know more about this than she led on? 

“I think I need to meditate on this. Maybe with Leia’s help I might be able to find the person projecting.” 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Finn said. 

Rey smiled at him and turned to Leia who offered her her arm. Still shaky and exhausted, Rey took it and together the two Jedis walked to their mediation chamber. 

Once the door was closed, Rey let herself fall onto one of the mediation pillows. 

“Tell me who it was.” 

“I don’t know for sure…” Leia began haltingly. “But I might have a hunch.” 

“Tell me!” 

“I think that somehow… Kylo Ren survived,” she swallowed. “I understand the implications of that all too well.” 

“You’re telling me that both Ren and Hux might’ve survived and are roaming the galaxy together? Potentially able to resurrect the First Order?” Rey snapped, her anger getting the better of her. 

“Possibly,” Leia admitted. “I don’t think that they get along very well though. Even if it came out that Kylo is still alive, I believe that between the two of us and Finn we have a chance at defeating him.” 

“I  _ killed _ him. I cut off his head with my own hands.” 

“Luke managed to project his appearance through multiple galaxies too,” Leia replied. “I believe Kylo to be capable of that too.” 

Rey took a shaky breath. 

“So what do we do?” 

“Same as with Hux. Wait and see.” 

“We’re just letting one of the most powerful Force users roam the galaxy unsupervised? If Hux is capable of damaging our efforts, Kylo is a threat to everything we fought and died for,” Rey rose, fury blinding her. 

“Rey,” Leia said sharply. “I understand your emotions and I commend you for being so honest and direct. But understand this. Just because they once needed to be eradicated completely doesn’t mean that this still applies. Maybe the destruction of Starkiller and the Supremacy as well as the Battle Exegol already did that. Their spirits and beliefs couldn’t have survived that unscathed.” 

Rey frowned and sat back down. 

Unconsciously she fell into her meditation pose. Searching her feelings, she began to see Leia’s side. While she still didn’t agree with everything her mentor said, she understood that there was truth in Leia’s words. Rey breathed out a sigh and nodded. 

“Yes,” she said, calmly. “You might be right about that. We will have to see.” 

Leia smiled slowly. 

“I know it will take time for all of us to adjust to the new reality we live in. Just because I am optimistic doesn’t mean I’m weak. If Kylo threatens us again, I will wipe him out without mercy. He took my husband from me, my brother and my son,” Leia inhaled deeply. “I’m not hesitant, just hoping for the best.” 

≠

“Kylo, for fuck’s sake!” Armitage stumbled under the drunken man’s weight. “Why did you have to challenge your boss to a drinking game?” 

“‘sss fun?” Kylo offered and chuckled. 

He hung over Armitage’s shoulder and was too occupied looking at the stars to even consider walking. 

“Cooperate you fool, or I will leave you in the ditch!” Armitage snapped and jabbed his elbow into Kylo’s side. 

Accidentally hitting the spot where he had landed after he had jumped out of the podracer, Kylo yelped like a kicked dog. 

“Sorry,” Armitage ground out. 

“Need a hand?” Fudia said, stepping out of the pub behind them. 

“That would be really nice,” Armitage said with a strained smile. “Darin had a bit too much to drink.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Brendan,” Fudia laughed. “You won spectacularly, so why not get spectacularly drunk?” 

“Yeah…” 

Without much protesting, Kylo let himself be dragged to Armitage’s room. Fudia struggled enough during their journey home, and didn’t even bother to attempt a conversation with either of them. When they finally dropped their load onto Armitage’s bed, Fudia was out of breath and sweaty. 

“How are you completely fine after that?” She gasped out. 

“This helps me breath better,” Armitage replied and gestured vaguely to his mask. “Thanks for your help,” he said. 

“No issue. Hopefully he won’t have too bad of a hangover tomorrow morning,” Fudia waved at him. “Sleep well, you two.” 

She closed the door behind her, and Armitage heard her leaving down the corridor to her own room. Looking back at Kylo, he found him already dead asleep. With a long sigh, he walked over to his chair and took a seat. 

Armitage watched the rise and fall of Kylo’s chest. 

With his sweaty, dirty hair spread out on the grey of Armitage’s pillow case Kylo looked just like the person he pretended he was: A hard working mechanic that had fallen on hard times.

Rubbing the tips of his fingers together, Armitage leaned back in his chair and ran a few diagnostics on his system. While his subconsciousness took care of that, he focused his attention on Kylo. 

He still held conflicted feelings towards his former tormentor. There was no denying that Kylo was a bully towards him, one who took immense pleasure in humiliating Armitage. Armitage just wasn’t sure if he had engaged in the bullying because of Snoke or because of his own desire to inflict pain. 

Fact of the matter was that Armitage had exchanged one bully for another, as he had his whole life. 

After his father and Pryde was Snoke, and then Kylo with the added bonus of Pryde returning to mock him further. The hatred Armitage felt for all of these men burned hotter than any sun in any galaxy. 

In spite of that, Armitage found his feelings toward Kylo changing. 

Kylo had proven to him to be both hardworking and selfless. It didn’t change a lick of what he had done to Armitage in the past, and Armitage would never forgive him. Abuse and bullying weren’t something Armitage considered to be beneath any good soldier. The fact that so many of his fellow officers openly engaged in it and were proud of the hurt they caused on a regular basis infuriated him.

He leaned back in his chair, still rubbing his fingertips against one another. 

Armitage was in an uneasy situation, in a precarious time. Something inside of himself told him that he only had to wait for Kylo to stab him in the back and sell him out to the highest bidder. Swift came back to his mind and Armitage ground his teeth. He couldn’t afford to trust Kylo, not yet and maybe never. 

≠

The stasis Armitage had entered earlier that night was abruptly ended when his environment sensors detected frantic movement from the bed. His subconscious system jumped into action and he was on his feet before his mind had fully come back online. Only then did he get a visual feed of what was happening around him. 

Kylo was still on the bed, but his sleep was no longer the peaceful rest of a drunkard, instead, he was thrashing on the mattress. The pillow had fallen to the floor and the blanket was rucked up at the foot of the bed. Sweat had apparently drenched Kylo’s clothes and the sheet.

“Kylo!” Armitage called firmly and reached out to him. 

Ducking away from a wild haymaker, Armitage stumbled over his sluggish legs. Since his processors were still reeling to keep up with the sudden motion, he fell to the floor with a loud bang. 

The noise was loud enough to jerk Kylo from his panic. 

Gasping like an almost drowned man, Kylo thrashed one last time and then laid still. Cautiously Armitage moved closer to him, still on the floor. The harsh breathing was loud in the otherwise deathly silent night. 

“Kylo?” Armitage asked softly. “Can you hear me?” 

“Yes,” Kylo rasped out. “Did I hurt you?”

Armitage considered telling Kylo that he couldn’t be hurt, but knew that now wasn’t the right time. 

“I’m fine. We might’ve woken the neighbours, but who cares?” Armitage stood slowly and moved to sit by Kylo’s side on the bed. “Do you need something?” 

“A shower,” Kylo muttered and tugged at his wet shirt. “I’m so sorry, Armitage.” 

“Night terrors aren’t unusual,” Armitage replied calmly. 

He reached out and placed his hand on Kylo’s cheek. Armitage wasn’t wearing his gloves and the segmented white of his artificial fingers was almost indistinguishable from the deathly white of Kylo’s skin. Reaching up to grasp Armitage's wrist, Kylo closed his eyes. 

They stayed this way for a moment before Armitage removed his hand and stood. 

“The shower is next to the pantry kitchen. There should be towels in the cupboards. I can’t offer you any soap other than the one already in the shower,” Armitage said and opened the window. “I will change your sheets and get a clean shirt and pants.” 

“I could just go home,” Kylo sat up and placed his naked feet on the worn out floor. 

“Why? So you can have another terror alone?” Armitage turned from the window.

Now with the curtain drawn, Kylo looked even more of a ghost than before. 

His skin was sickly pale and covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Slumped shoulders seemed to have lost the strength and power they held earlier in the day. Kylo’s hair was greasy and frizzy at the same time. 

“You need rest and you don’t look like you had any in the last few weeks,” Armitage said firmly. “I don’t know how you manage…” 

“I use the Force to keep going. It’s the only way I can actually function and go to work.” 

“That’s cheating.” 

“Half your former staff were on drugs…” 

“ _ None _ of  _ my _ officers were. Maybe other members of the First Order relied on that stuff, but I made sure my officers were taken care of properly,” Armitage leaned against the windowsill. “Also stop with that whataboutism! Go shower and sleep as long as you want. I don’t think we’re expected at work after the party we just had.” 

Kylo looked at him like a beaten puppy. But then, he finally rose and left for the shower. 

Stripping and re-doing the bed was done quickly enough. For some reason, Armitage found himself on the tiny balcony his room sported. Since he lived so far up, he had a decent view over the other houses in the port area. The cool night breeze soothed Armitage’s still reeling sensors. 

Soft footfalls announced Kylo’s arrival. 

Turning his head, Armitage was glad to see that Kylo looked a little bit more human than before. He was still pale as death, but he seemed to have gotten some of his spirit back. Kylo swallowed and stepped up next to Armitage. 

“Feel better?” 

“A little.” 

They fell silent as they looked over the dark and silent port. 

“Have you been experiencing a lot of these terrors?” 

“Yes,” Kylo rubbed a hand over his face. “Started during the Jedi training under Luke. Got only worse after I met Snoke. With Luke I picked up calligraphy, which helped. Snoke thought that to be stupid, so I begun training when I couldn’t sleep. That helped my progress, but not my anger management.” 

“Naturally.” 

“I hate it,” Kylo sighed. “I can’t stop it, even medicated I stuffer through that shit.” 

“That’s why none of the med droids entered your room when you were recovering from the Starkiller debacle.” 

“That and I was really pissed off.” 

Armitage barked out a joyless laugh.

“I know that you really hated me after that.” 

“I did,” Armitage agreed. “But that was a long time ago. You’ve done enough other stuff to warrant me hating your guts since then.” 

“Don’t remind me.” 

Kylo swallowed. 

“You don’t have to forgive me for that, you know?” He said, haltingly. “Never understood Luke’s obsession with forgiveness. It might’ve been useful in his situation after defeating Palpatine for the first time, but that’s it.” 

“I won’t forgive you. That doesn’t mean that I won’t give you the chance to prove that you can be better than that,” Armitage looked at Kylo.

“I would like a second chance. No one’s ever given me one of those before.” 

Kylo smiled timidly, and Armitage found himself smiling back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!


	7. Unintentional

The days moved on without much notice. 

Kylo returned to his lodgings and Armitage found his room to be inexplicably empty and sad. At one point they met after work. Sitting in a booth of their local pub, Armitage found himself wondering about their finances. 

“I still have a long way to go before leaving this planet,” Kylo said with a shrug. “And I will have to buy a ship.” 

“My ship is waiting for me in a landing bay, but since it’s so old and ratty, I was forced to vacate it for the repairs. My finances have taken a bit of a hit because of that.” 

“When will your ship be functional again?” 

“I was assured shortly, but after asking about it a week ago, they told me it would take some more time and obviously money,” Armitage rolled his eyes. 

“They’re probably lying. Want me to come along and ask again?” 

“You gonna…?” Armitage waved his hand around. 

“Why not,” Kylo grinned and shrugged. 

“And then what?” 

“We move into your ship. Together. If that’s alright with you. We both need to be saving money and while I am willing and able to pay rent on something… My room is very expensive and you might give me a better deal?” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“Oh come on!” 

“You don’t even know how big my ship is!” 

“I’m assuming you have a freighter of some kind. Anything else would be stupid for someone with your footprint,” Kylo said. 

“I’ll think about it,” Armitage replied shortly. 

≠

Against his better judgment, Armitage found himself enjoying Kylo’s presence. It went as fast as actually seeking him during their lunch breaks and after work. Spending time with Kylo exposed him to the other’s low upbringing. 

There wasn’t a bawdy tavern song in the Outer Rim that Kylo didn’t know. It made for great entertainment, especially after Kylo and some other Wookies began to seriously consider opening a band together.

Armitage didn’t expect anything to come of it, and naturally there was no more mention of the idea a few nights after it came up. 

Kylo also proved to be a valuable asset when it came to Armitage’s freighter. As Kylo had predicted, the repairmen had lied to Armitage’s face. 

“That you weren’t aware that they were talking out of their asses is surprising,” Kylo said, shaking his head at Armitage. 

Putting the mechanic and his boss under mind control had been far too enjoyable for Kylo in Armitage’s eyes, but he kept his mouth shut. 

“The lies were convincing enough,” Armitage replied and rolled his eyes at Kylo’s amused smirk. 

“How good that you know a skilled Force user,” Kylo laughed. 

“Oh really? You mean that scavenger girl?” 

“In a different life I would’ve killed you for that remark.” 

“In a different life we both would be dead.”

That made Kylo laugh even more.

“True that,” he said, shrugging. “But, get this, I really like this new life we have here.” 

“Yes,” Armitage agreed. 

“It’s so much easier and I don’t have to worry about so many things.” 

“And you can get smashed every night,” Armitage walked slower when he spotted a gun hanging in a shop window. 

“I don’t get drunk every night, I just…” Kylo trailed off when he noticed that Armitage’s mind was somewhere else. “Is that a phase-pulse blaster?” 

“Yes,” Armitage nodded. “That is such a rare weapon…” 

“And you want it?” Kylo asked, stepping beside Armitage.” 

“Of course. But that’s just way too much right now,” Armitage shook his head sadly. “Not with the repairs of my ship and running costs of the room I’m renting.” 

“We can still move into your ship and save money like that.” 

“ _We_?” Armitage looked at Kylo and arched his brow. “You want to leech off me now?” 

“I would pay you for living with you!” Kylo said defensively. “And we already spend more than enough nights together.” 

Kylo’s words struck a weird cord inside of Armitage. That statement sounded almost like they were lovers and Armitage found himself not entirely rejecting and disliking that idea. 

“Yes, but only because you’re always too drunk to make the longer trip home to your lodgings!” Armitage replied. “You basically live with me already.” 

“Exactly, let’s both save some money and move into your ship once it’s done in a few days!” Kylo smiled earnestly. 

“Fine,” Armitage straightened his back. “I’ll think about the payment.” 

Kylo beamed at him and patted him on the back. 

He looked radiant like that. Armitage had barely allowed himself to admire the beauty Kylo possesed. Sometimes he wondered that that was the reason for the stupid mask he wore most of the time. 

Armitage smiled a private, hidden smile. He would never be able to show himself as openly as Kylo. Not only was his face too recognizable, he also wasn’t nearly human enough. That left a heavy, uncomfortable feeling behind and Armitage had to turn away from the grinning Kylo and move on. 

“Let’s go, the pub awaits,” he said sharply.

And with one last aggressive stomp he attempted to destroy the dream of being with Kylo. 

≠

The ship looked almost as new when they moved in a couple of days later. Armitage felt more at home here now. The crew quarters were now Kylo’s while Armitage opted for the Captain’s lodging. It’s only fair, Kylo agreed, since Armitage owned the ship. 

But because Armitage got rid of the sonics everywhere but his room, that also meant that Kylo came over often. 

And at night he still woke Armitage up when he had one of his terrors. Eventually, Armitage ditched the idea of sleeping in separate quarters and suggested to Kylo that they both stay in the Captain’s rooms. 

Kylo seemed all too happy to move in with Armitage, mixing their little possessions in the closet opposite the bed. 

It felt domestic, living with Kylo like that. And Armitage found himself settling in more and more. Their work still kept them separated four days out of seven.

“What are you gonna do after that?” Kylo asked Armitage one night as they were sitting on top of the freighter.

Armitage, who had just climbed out of the top hatch, shrugged. 

“Go to the next planet. Make some more money,” Armitage sat down. “Since I don’t know if I can die… What else is there?”

“You’re just going to keep grinding until you are discovered?”

“Exactly.” 

“If you head out into the Uncharted Territory, you don’t have to worry about that. Fuck, even the Outer Region will be safe for you.” 

“Hiding? The rest of my life?” 

“It’s not hiding. It’s actually having a life for once. You always lived to fulfill someone's expectations of you.” 

“I don’t know,” Armitage leaned back on his hands, looking up at the dark sky. “What do I have other than my abilities?” 

“Your shitty personality,” Kylo teased. “But seriously, you could do so much more.” 

“Like what?”

“Have a farm, become a nerf herder.” 

Armitage looked at Kylo, arching both eyebrows.

“That’s genuinely what I want,” Kylo replied, his voice sounding nervous. “A quiet life is… easy.”

“And neither of us have been given the option to live one,” Armitage agreed, finally catching up on what Kylo was trying to tell him. “Maybe you’re right.” 

“Sometimes I can have clever ideas,” Kylo chuckled. “Would you come along to that?” 

“To start a farm and herd nerfs?” 

“Doesn’t have to be nerfs,” Kylo shrugged. “Just… Living a quiet life with me somewhere remote.” 

Kylo turned to look at Armitage and Armitage glanced over at him. The dim lights of the landing bay illuminated only small portions of Kylo’s face. Something inside of him yearned to reach out to Kylo. 

And so he did. 

Again he was struck by the contrast of his fingers against Kylo’s cheek, but this time Kylo didn’t reach for Armitage’s wrist. Instead he leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. Emotions Armitage hadn’t really felt in his life welled up and his processors picked up speed, trying to understand what was going on. 

“I… I don’t know what’s going on right now. But for the first time I feel safe,” Armitage got out, his voice halting and injected with static noise. 

“You’ve never had a crush on someone?” Kylo asked softly and opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Armitage directly. 

“Me? Never,” Armitage shook his head. 

“Well then…” Kylo licked his lips nervously, eyes darting to the side. 

“God, we’re both kind of hopeless at this,” Armitage laughed. “A fighting machine and a robotic human.” 

“Neither of us were allowed to have childhoods,” Kylo said. “We never experienced something like that. It’s not like our parents raised us to have free time or allowed us to be carefree.” 

Armitage nodded. 

“I still want to try this,” he said. “It might take some time until I have figured myself out, but I am willing to try.” 

“No pressure. I know that I did some things that are unforgivable.” 

“Yes,” Armitage nodded. “However you’ve shown that you can change. I’ve never seen you so happy and I surely never imagined us just joking around like this.” 

Kylo smiled and sighed. 

“When are we leaving?” 

≠

It was a spur of the moment decision. 

Neither Kylo nor Armitage had prepared themselves in any way for the idea of getting married. But after telling their few acquaintances about leaving, they were bombarded with all sorts of questions. 

Chiefly, if they planned to get married. 

“You cannot leave without getting married,” Fudia had said sharply. “Not after I had to endure Darin playing drunk just so he could spend his nights at Brendan’s.” 

“Oh, really,” Armitage had looked at Kylo accusingly. 

“I didn’t know what else to do.” 

“Idiot,” Armitage had snapped. “You could’ve just asked me.” 

“It took you four weeks getting used to the idea of us moving into your ship.” 

“Darin’s plan worked and now he’s stealing my best mechanic away,” Rrill had lamented. “But you need to get married. We will take care of everything.” 

Now, well on their way to a small farming planet on the border between the Outer Rim and the Western Reaches, Armitage found himself fondly looking at the picture they had taken not a day earlier on an abandoned First Order seat.

[Rebloggable](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/darthtenrec/638677009841750016)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment, it motivates this writer!

**Author's Note:**

> Huge shout out to my awesome partner darthtenrec! It was so awesome to work with them so head on over to their tumblr (linked throughout the fic) and give their art some love!


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